Part of the celebration of the grand opening of a new business in Los Lunas included an exhibit of real live alligators, but some people who went there said they were shocked that it was a little too real.

"When we walked up somebody tossed a live bunny into the pool for the alligators to eat," said Amara Heising.

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Some of the people who were there told Action 7 News it was billed as a family-friendly event with rides and exhibits for the kids, including a couple of live alligators.

Heising said she took her 4- and 3-year-old grandchildren to the grand opening expecting some fun, but as the afternoon wore on, things got ugly.

'There was a child's playhouse right next to this pool where these alligators were being thrown little bunnies and mice. It was horrible," Heising said.

A spokesman for the store doesn't deny that there were live alligators there or that they were fed live critters, but he said precautions were taken to make sure sensitive people didn't see it.

"We did let the parents know that if you didn't want your children to watch the actual live feeding to please step away. Every time he fed the mice he let them know that this is what we're going to be doing," said spokesman Johnanthony Maldonado.

Maldonado said that the reptiles were not fed live rabbits. Still, Heising said the whole event left her angry and not a likely future customer.

"The fact that they would do that as a promotion for their store seems so bizarre and unthinking to me that it's unreal," said Heising.